The Hot Zone (A Rainshadow Novel Book 3) Page 12

  “You’re the head of Prescott Industries. You could have paid for your own private search-and-rescue op.”

  “They told me she had been lost in an energy river. No one comes out of a river.”

  “Almost no one,” Cyrus said. There was a loud, protesting squeak when he leaned back in the old office chair. “You still haven’t explained why you’re here on the island.”

  “Isn’t it obvious? I care about her. She’s my wife, damn it.”

  “She was your wife. And it was just an MC. What’s more, you had every intention of keeping it that way, didn’t you?”

  “Our relationship started out as an MC,” Brock said through his teeth. “But after she disappeared, I realized that what I felt for her was something much deeper and more profound.”

  “So deep and profound that you decided to start sleeping with your administrative assistant?”

  Brock’s face creased in grim lines. “It was all a misunderstanding. Sedona never gave me a chance to explain.”

  Cyrus raised his brows. “Now you’re thinking Covenant Marriage?”

  “Absolutely.” Brock walked forward and planted both hands, palms down, on the surface of the desk. “Not that my relationship with Sedona is any of your damn business.”

  “Actually it is my business. She has agreed to take gatekeeping contracts with the Rainshadow Guild on an ad hoc basis. As far as I’m concerned, that makes her a member of my team. I have every right to look out for her welfare.”

  “Is that so? Do you make a habit of sleeping with all your female team members?”

  Cyrus stood and confronted Brock across the depth of the old desk. “If you make one move to take Sedona away from this island without her clear, informed consent, I will make sure that Prescott Industries never gets access to the Underworld again.”

  “That’s bullshit.” Fury came and went in Brock’s eyes. “You can’t threaten me like that. You may be a Jones, but we both know you’re just a low-rent Guild boss with a small, unimportant territory on an island in the middle of the Amber Sea. It’s not like you’re the head of one of the big city-state Guilds.”

  “This may not be Crystal City or Resonance City. But the Underworld here on Rainshadow is my territory.”

  Brock’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”

  “If you know anything about the members of the Chamber, you know they don’t assign any territory, large or small, to someone unless they think he can control it. Believe me when I tell you that I can and will protect what’s mine. We’re done here, Prescott. It’s true, I don’t have the power to order you off the island—just out of the Underworld. But if you aren’t very careful I will make sure that you disappear from Rainshadow, one way or another. Now get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

  Prescott looked as if he was going to refuse to be hustled out of the office. But in the end, he evidently concluded that there was no benefit to pushing the issue.

  He yanked open the door and strode outside as if it were his idea to leave. On the sidewalk he paused briefly to look back at Cyrus.

  “Who the hell do you think you are, Jones?”

  “The man they sent to take care of the monsters on Rainshadow,” Cyrus said.

  Chapter 15

  It was just after eight o’clock but the noise level in the tavern was climbing rapidly. Lyle had vanished into the darkened interior twenty minutes earlier. There had been no sign of him since, but the rez-rock music and the roars of masculine laughter booming out of the doorway that separated the bar from the lobby did not bode well in Sedona’s opinion.

  She was about to leave her post behind the front desk to check on the situation when a six-foot-tall Amazon with endless waves of blond hair and a bust that would have done credit to a lingerie model came through the lobby doors. Hannah Holbrook was dressed in her trademark head-to-toe leather and all of it—jacket, vest, and trousers—clung to her centerfold-worthy figure like a hand-tailored glove. High-heeled boots and a leather computer bag completed the look.

  “Hey, Sedona.” She flashed her camera-ready smile. “Sounds like you’ve got a crowd in the tavern tonight.”

  “Hi, Hannah. Knox is getting rich but I’m getting a little worried about Lyle.”

  “I’ve always heard that dust bunnies can take care of themselves.” Hannah glanced toward the doorway. “I could really use a drink but it looks like I’m going to have to wade through a bunch of drunken ghost hunters to get it.”

  “I’ll be happy to have Knox bring one out to you.”

  Hannah chuckled. “Thanks, but I’ll take my chances in the bar. I am in desperate need of information and who better to get it from than a crowd of inebriated hunters?”

  Hannah might look like Miss July but she had a reporter’s eyes. She had arrived on the island a few days earlier and it had immediately become clear that she was determined to use all of her impressive assets and her journalist’s savvy to get her story.

  “I’m not so sure you’ll get anything out of them, even if they are drunk,” Sedona said. “I hear they’ve been given strict orders not to talk to the press. The local authorities are trying to keep a lid on the rumors that are circulating about the Preserve.”

  “Fat chance.”

  Sedona smiled. “True.”

  Hannah gave her a suspiciously sweet smile. “The new Guild boss seems to be determined to run a tight operation. I caught Jones on the street today, but all I got from him was the same thing I got from Harry Sebastian and the police chief. ‘No comment.’”

  “As I’m sure you’re aware, the Foundation controls most of Rainshadow,” Sedona said. “It doesn’t want any publicity. Neither do the local residents.”

  “In that case, they shouldn’t have announced Halloween Week.”

  “I’ll give you that. All I can say is that when the new mayor proposed the idea, the town council thought it was a good idea at the time.”

  Hannah narrowed her eyes. “There’s a story here, I can feel it. Sooner or later it will be covered in the media.”

  “Not if the Rainshadow Foundation and the Guild have anything to say about it.”

  Hannah groaned. “That’s becoming more obvious by the minute. All I’ve got are rumors of monsters running around in the Preserve. But according to the local legends, that’s not exactly news on Rainshadow.”

  “Nope, it’s not.”

  Hannah got a crafty look. “I heard that Brock Prescott is on the island.”

  “Mmm.”

  “I find that rather interesting under the circumstances.” Hannah crossed the lobby to lounge against the front desk. She winked in a conspiratorial fashion. “Not like his family’s company has any interests here on Rainshadow. Most of this island, and anything found inside the Preserve, belong to Sebastian, Inc.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Sedona said. “I have no idea what he’s doing here.”

  “According to my research, you and Prescott were in an MC not so long ago.”

  “That’s old history,” Sedona said, going for casual.

  “Men like Prescott don’t usually follow an ex to a remote island in the Amber Sea if they believe that the relationship is actually over,” Hannah said.

  Sedona folded her arms on the counter. “It’s over.”

  The truth was, she’d been expecting Brock to show up at the inn ever since she had arrived at work that morning. Each time the front door of the lobby opened she braced herself for the confrontation. But there had been no sign of him all day. She had begun to hope that he had left the island.

  Another wave of shouts and laughter rolled through the doorway. Hannah looked in that direction.

  “Sounds like a real party going on in there,” she said.

  “Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Sedona straightened, rounded the end of the counter, and started toward the tavern door. “And
I’ll bet I know who is wearing the lampshade.”

  Hannah perked up. “Yeah?”

  Sedona went through the doorway.

  “Look out,” a hunter shouted. “Incoming dust bunny.”

  A man’s hand closed around Sedona’s upper arm and hauled her aside just as a small, makeshift trapeze sailed past her. She caught a glimpse of Lyle riding the wooden platform.

  He chortled exuberantly. When the trapeze reached the end of its arc he leaped nimbly off the platform and onto the bar.

  A cheer went up around the room. Lyle bounced up and down and chortled wildly.

  “I knew it,” Sedona said, resigned. “Always the life of the party.”

  “Doesn’t take much to entertain a bunch of ghost hunters,” Hannah said.

  “Or a dust bunny,” Sedona said.

  The hunter who had whisked Sedona aside released her as if he’d been burned.

  “Sorry, ma’am,” he said. “Didn’t mean to grab you like that. I was afraid you would get hit by the trapeze we built for the little guy.”

  “It’s okay,” Sedona said. “You probably saved me from getting clunked on the head.”

  The hunter looked relieved. “Just having a little fun with the dust bunny.” He raised his voice. “Let’s lower the rez level, people. The boss’s lady is here.”

  The reaction from the crowd was almost as jolting as the hunter’s description of her. The noise level immediately dropped several decibels.

  The boss’s lady.

  Crap, Sedona thought. The word that Cyrus had spent the night at her place had spread far and wide. She had worked with ghost hunters long enough to know there was no stuffing the toothpaste back into the tube. As far as Cyrus’s men were concerned she was now officially the boss’s lady.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll take Lyle and leave now,” she said politely. “He needs his rest.”

  A path through the throng of hunters opened up as if by magic. She went to the bar and collected Lyle.

  Knox frowned, his bushy brows bobbing up and down over his sun-faded eyes. “You’re going home now?”

  “Yes, I am. Call the police department if things get out of hand.”

  Knox leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m not worried about these hunters. After what happened last night I’m worried about you going back to your place alone.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Sedona said.

  “You should wait until Jones gets here to walk you home and keep an eye on you.”

  The boss’s lady.

  “I know you mean well, Knox, however, Cyrus is very busy these days.”

  Knox glanced toward the door and looked relieved. “There he is now. Jones will take care of you. Off you go.”

  Sedona turned her head and saw Cyrus filling the tavern doorway. Everyone else in the room noticed him at the same time. There was an abrupt silence. Chairs scraped and hunters got to their feet.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” Cyrus said. “Go back to your burgers and drinks. Report to headquarters in the morning at oh-seven-hundred. We’ll be clearing Sector One tomorrow. I will expect everyone to be at full rez.”

  There was a chorus of “Yes, sir.”

  Cyrus looked at Sedona. “Ready to go home?”

  She considered the options and concluded that all but one of them would make her look foolish or, worse yet, like a sulky teenager. She went with the only remaining alternative.

  “Yes,” she said.

  With Lyle under one arm, she walked through the gauntlet of hunters to where Cyrus waited in the doorway. He stood aside for her. She did not pause, but kept moving across the lobby. Cyrus followed her.

  “Don’t know about you, but I’m hungry,” he said when he caught up with her. “What do you say we get some dinner over at the Marina Café?”

  Well, she did need to eat, Sedona thought. And really, how much more damage could it do to have dinner with Cyrus?

  The boss’s lady.

  “Okay,” she said.

  Hannah surveyed the crowded tavern with a sparkling smile.

  “I know the boss probably told you all not to talk to me about your work in the tunnels,” she said cheerfully. “But would anyone like to buy me a drink?”

  Chairs scraped again and every man in the room shot to his feet. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving.

  “Over here, Miss Holbrook.”

  “Be my pleasure, ma’am.”

  Hannah laughed a throaty, sexy laugh and headed toward the bar. “No need to fight over me, gentlemen. I plan to be here for a while. Not like there’s anything else to do on this rock at night.”

  Someone cranked up the music.

  Sedona went out into the night with Cyrus.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Cyrus said.

  “I’m thinking I’m hungry.”

  Chapter 16

  It was going on ten o’clock when they left the restaurant. The taverns and bars in Shadow Bay were staying open late again so that the locals could vacuum up as much cash as possible from the tourists as well as the ghost hunters and the members of the various Foundation research teams. The Halloween lanterns glowed in the evening fog, illuminating Main Street in a ghostly radiance.

  “There is absolutely no need for you to spend the night at my place,” Sedona said. But she didn’t bother to put any energy into the statement.

  “You’re right,” Cyrus said. “We could spend the night at my place, instead. But I haven’t had a chance to stock the refrigerator. Come morning, we’d have to go to your cottage for breakfast.”

  No getting around it, Sedona thought, given recent events, she was glad to have Cyrus as well as Lyle with her for the dark trek back to her cottage. But the thought of Cyrus spending another night at her place made her uneasy. Not quite as uneasy as the possibility of running into another psi-trap, though.

  The boss’s lady.

  “Fine, my place,” she said, aware that she sounded gruff.

  “Okay,” he said. “But let’s stop by my cottage first. I want to grab a few things.”

  A few things. She knew that as far as the residents of Shadow Bay were concerned it was going to look like the new boss had moved in with her.

  “Think of me as a roommate,” Cyrus said, as if he had read her mind.

  “More like a bodyguard,” she said, determined to be mature about the situation.

  “Or a bodyguard,” he agreed.

  When they reached the end of the street Cyrus rezzed his flashlight.

  “While we’re on the subject of my personal life, there’s a rumor going around that Brock Prescott went to your office today,” Sedona said.

  “I can confirm that rumor.”

  “Damn. I was afraid of that.” She halted and turned to face Cyrus. “What did you two talk about?”

  Cyrus stopped. “Take a wild guess.”

  She winced. “Me.”

  “Yes, you.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him to stay away from you or else I would see to it that he disappeared from Rainshadow.”

  She thought about that. “You used the word disappear?”

  “I believe I did.”

  In spite of the many complications that had cropped up in her life recently, she could not help but feel touched.

  “Wow,” she marveled. “That was cold.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Very old school.” Historically speaking, when a Guild boss made someone disappear, the individual in question wound up taking a long walk in the catacombs without tuned amber. “I’ll bet your threat gave Brock some second thoughts. Not that you would actually do something like that.”

  “Don’t be so sure of that,” Cyrus said. “I’m a great believer in tradition.”

  S
he paused. “You really told Brock Prescott that you would make him disappear if he came near me again?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I’ve only known you for about twenty-four hours but I’m inclined to believe you did, indeed, threaten Brock Prescott.” Sedona started walking again. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but thanks.”

  Cyrus fell into step beside her. “You’re welcome.”

  She glanced sharply at him. In the heavy darkness it was impossible to read his face, but she thought she detected sincerity in his tone. Possibly a little too much sincerity.

  “Look, I really appreciate the gesture, but promise me you won’t actually send him into the tunnels without amber, okay?” she said.

  “You still care for him?”

  “No. But I got my revenge this morning when he arrived at my place and found you there. That’s good enough for me. I don’t want to be responsible for his disappearance.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you my word that I won’t make him disappear into the Underworld but I reserve the option to ask Slade Attridge to kick him off the island. Fair enough?”

  “Fair enough.” She smiled. “Slade would do it, too, if you asked him.”

  “Yes, I know. He’d do it to protect you. You’ve got friends here, Sedona.”

  “Yes.” She hugged the knowledge close.

  When they neared the gates of the Shadow Bay Cemetery, Lyle chortled and bounded down from Cyrus’s shoulder. He vanished into the fog and the darkness.

  “Have fun,” Sedona called out softly. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

  They went up the front steps of Graveyard Cottage. Cyrus rezzed the lock and opened the door. He found the wall switch and rezzed it, too. Then he stood back to allow Sedona to enter first.

  Old school when it came to his manners, as well, she thought.

  He followed her into the small space and kept going into the darkened bedroom. The lights came on. She listened to him rustling around and knew that he was packing shaving gear as well as a change of clothes. Think of him as a roommate. Or a bodyguard. Yeah, right.

  “One thing I don’t understand,” she said.